Where to get C02 bottles filled......

[Mike Anders]

I don't know if all Academy Sports and Outdoors fill C02 bottles but the one here in San Angelo does. The cost here is $4.00 for a 20oz. So for you guys out there that do not have a paint ball place near you maybe check there.

[SVD]

Long term cheapest is to get one of the about $50 refill kits and then spend the money to get a 20lb dip tank at your local welding gas supplier (PraxAir around here). Refills of the 20lb tank are up to about $30 now but you get 16 - 18 fills of the 20oz tanks from that so you're money ahead. When I got my 20lb tank it cost me about $200 (filled). A few more fills of the big tank and the whole thing will have paid for itself. Got around to getting a regulator to run my Classic off of my compressor so it'll be a bit longer until that happens. Still use CO2 when I'm not at my 'home' bench and hope to spend more time at an alternate location soon.

If you can't get a dip tank (or are determined to get another fill or two out of the tank) a regular tank will work if you can safely mount it upside down. You need to be getting the liquid CO2 out rather than the gas. You could make a box out of 2x4's pretty easy. Now that I think about it, I wonder if I want to do that and trade my dip tank for a regular one next fill. The dip tanks are rarer so sometimes they don't have a full one available (Praxair went to a 'trade-in' system so you always get a nice, safety-tested tank).

[Mike Anders]

The real long term and cheapest way is a air compressor. I only use C02 at shows so I might go though 10 20oz bottles a year. I just thought this would be an alternate place to fill small bottles if your town does not have a paint ball place.

[Daniel Houwer]

I agree with Mike.
A little compressor is the way to go.
Co2 is something whe should not be using to much anyway cause of the enviroment.
Haven't your paintball clubs switched over to compressed air yet?
Here in Holland Paintballers use the same size tanks but with compressed air these days.
I have to get my tank altered so it can take the compressor nozzle at the local diving store and fill it with air rather thenn co2.
I could fill the tank at this diving shop or at the paintball shop and probably even at the firefighter station.
Just my 2 cents

[SVD]

HPA (High Pressure Air) is a good choice. There's a thread in the tutorials section (I think) about using HPA and doing your refills with a SCUBA tank.